Monthly Archives: January 2011

{twd} swirl cakes are my nemeses

Yes. There isn’t a swirl cake I can’t make ugly. Not on purpose. It just happens. I can make gorgeous croissants. I have no problem baking rolls that look like, well, rolls. I can’t make pretty swirls. I admit defeat.

Paula agrees.

Even though my Nutty Chocolatey Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake won’t win beauty contests, it was still mighty tasty. Those scraps did not go to waste. ;)

Thanks to Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort for hosting this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie. For the recipe, visit her blog.

{sms} speakeasy, another boozy cake

Brandy. The one type of alcohol I do not have in my pantry and the type needed for this week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe: Speakeasy, aka a boozy cake with chocolate. I have scotch, armagnac, cognac, rum (3 types), tequila, vodka (um, 8 types), Bailys, Kahlua, Frangelico, Applejack, Amaretto, triple sec, midori, gin, Calvados, Kirsch, Grand Marnier, and bourbon (2 types).

Without a pressing need to another bottle of liquor to my collection, I subbed in bourbon. The cake batter was easy to throw together especially with Diego assisting. Instead of making a full recipe, I halved it and baked two mini cakes.

Thanks to Jeannette of The Whimsical Cupcake for hosting this week. For the recipe, visit her blog or buy the book.

{twd} lemon poppyseed muffins

I have an awesome neighbor. Okay, sometimes he says things like “I don’t know how you make it sometimes, Wendy”. Gee, thanks.  Other than that he is a pretty cool guy. I think he sees me as the daughter he never had. When I had trouble edging my lawn, he said he would do it. Week after week, I would mow my lawn and he would edge it.  In November, I went on vacation for 3 weeks. He said he would mow my lawn while I was gone. I returned home to a beautiful manicured lawn.

As thanks I decided to bake him and his family a basket of mini-muffins. For some reason, I decided to bake all the muffins I had not yet baked out of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking…From My Home to Yours. I took a basket to work and I walked a basket across the street to my neighbor. I also froze some of each. These, my friends, are the ones I took out of my freezer when I discovered this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection was the very popular (with neighbors and co-workers) Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.

Thanks to Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness for hosting this week. For the recipe, visit her BLOG or buy the BOOK.

(By the way, I have not mowed my lawn since late October. Love my neighbor.)

{twd} Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines

Okay.  My Mother is retired and in her spare time she volunteers for the Assistance League and runs their thrift store. Anytime something baking related comes into the store she calls me asking if I need this or that pan. I’m happy that she thinks of me and my baking needs. However, there are only so many tart pans or mini-pie tins I can use. One week she bought me an angel-food cake pan. Awesome. I didn’t have one. Later that week she called saying another angel-food cake pan arrived and did I want it. “Why the heck would I ever need TWO angel-food cake pans??” “You’ve got a point there.” Especially true because I’ve never made an angel-food cake and I’m really not a fan of it. O:)

And this is why I have multiple madeleine pans. And why I’ve made madeleines multiple times. They’re mighty tasty. I’m a fan. This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie, Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines, are a chocolate version of the yummy French cookie. Stuffed with marshmallow fluff and dipped in chocolate ganache. If that doesn’t spell delicious, I don’t know what does.

Thanks to Margot of Effort to Deliciousness for hosting this week. For the recipe visit her blog or buy the book.

(Still using my iPhone to take pics.)